Below you will find 38 pairs of numbers. In each case, you tell me which number will be bigger. One point for each correct answer. Most points wins.
Ties — and I expect there to be a nontrivial number of them — go to the side that had fewer votes. For example, here is a pair:
Number of wins by the Lions
Number of wins by the Ravens
Let’s say 49 people take the Lions and 44 take the Ravens. If the Lions and Ravens end up with the same number of wins, then each Ravens-backer will get a point and each Lions-backer will not. Last year, JimZornsLemma won with 25 correct guesses out of 38; the average was just 19 correct guesses. Thanks to Jeremy De Shetler for an assist on some of this year’s questions.
GRAND PRIZE: the main prizes will be (1) honor and (2) glory. There may also be some sort of trinket to be named later. By the time this thing is over, more than five months will have passed, so that gives me some time to scrape something together. But you probably shouldn’t enter unless honor and glory are sufficient.
MORE RULES:
1. Everyone is limited to one entry per person. This will be enforced by the honor system. If caught breaking this rule, you, your children, and your children’s children will be banned from all future FP contests.
2. I won’t enter the contest myself, which will allow me to arbitrate any dispute impartially. Any ambiguity in the rules will be clarified by me in whatever way causes me the least amount of hassle.
3. While there are quite a few items that refer in some way to the NFL postseason, unless specifically stated, all the items below refer to regular season totals only.
5. You may enter until 1:00 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, September 17th, 2016. However, there’s an incentive to entering early because…
6. In the event that the contest ends in a tie, the winner will be the person whose entry was submitted first.
HOW TO ENTER: PLEASE READ IF YOU WANT TO ACTUALLY ENTER THE CONTEST.
Cut-and-paste the list of questions below into your editor of choice, THEN DELETE THE CHOICES you don’t like (thereby leaving the ones you do like), and then cut-and-paste your 38 answers into the comments of this thread. Please do not edit the text in any way other than deleting half of it. If you want to leave non-entry comments, you are free to do so either at the very end of your entry or in a subsequent comment, but please do not put commentary in the body of your entry.
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Number of wins by the Saints
Number of wins by the Broncos
Number of wins by the Ravens
Number of wins by the Lions
Number of wins by the Titans
Number of wins by the Buccaneers
Number of wins by the Eagles
Number of wins by the Falcons, -1.5
Number of Patriots road wins
Number of Cowboys home wins
Maximum number of passing TDs by a player from this group: Blake Bortles, Sam Bradford, Jay Cutler, Alex Smith
Minimum number of passing TDs by a player from this group: Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady, Derek Carr, Drew Brees
Number of unique players to have 100-yard receiving games
Length of the longest TD pass thrown by Matthew Stafford
Number of interceptions thrown by Josh McCown
Number of Steelers wins, -0.5
Number of wins by the 3rd-place team in the AFC West, +0.5
Number of wins by the 2nd-place team in the AFC East
Number of completions by the 32nd ranked quarterback in completions
Number of receptions by the receiver with the most receptions, +15.5
Julio Jones receiving yards in home games
Receiving Yards by the Jets leading receiver (any position)
Largest win by the Raiders (by points)
Largest loss by the 49ers (by points)
Longest TD play from scrimmage by Le’Veon Bell
Longest Field Goal by Justin Tucker
Number of double digit wins by the Patriots
Number of double digit losses by the Browns
Margin of victory for the Texans biggest win
Number of TD passes by the Texans TD passing leader
Yards from scrimmage from the the leader of this group: Mike Gillislee, James White, Rex Burkhead, Dion Lewis
Yards from scrimmage from David Johnson in Arizona wins
Number of Receiving TDs by the player with the MOST in this group: Odell Beckham, A.J. Green, Jarvis Landry and Antonio Brown
Number of Receiving TDs combined by Pierre Garcon, Randall Cobb, and Adam Thielen
Yards from scrimmage for Jordan Howard
Number of receiving yards by the Bears receiving yards leader, times two
Lowest Yards per reception by any of Tavon Austin, Danny Amendola and Larry Fitzgerald, times two
Highest Yards per reception from this group: DeSean Jackson, Kenny Stills, Martavis Bryant, Ted Ginn Jr., J.J. Nelson [No minimum]
Number of wins by the Packers, -1.5
Number of interceptions thrown by Aaron Rodgers
Lower number will be Tom Brady rank in passer rating, +1.5 [If Brady fails to throw 224 passes, this side loses]
Lower number will be Antonio Brown rank in receiving yards
TDs scored (passing, rushing and receiving combined) by the player with the 4th most TDs among players in the NFC South, +4
TDs scored (passing, rushing and receiving combined) by the player with the 2nd most TDs among players from teams in California
Games started by rookie quarterbacks, +0.5
Games started by QBs who will be 38 years old during this season (i.e., Brees, Palmer, McCown)
Number of rushing TDs by the QB with the most rushing touchdowns
Number of 100-yard rushing games by Ezekiel Elliott, +0.5
Number of playoff (non-Super Bowl) games won by the visiting team, +0.5
Maximum number of TDs thrown by Kirk Cousins in a single game
Punts by Jets opponents, -5
Jets team offensive passer rating.
Maximum receiving yards by a player from this group: Rob Gronkowski, Travis Kelce, Greg Olsen
Maximum receiving yards by any other tight end in the NFL, +149
Rushing yards per game by Leonard Fournette, -24
Rushing yards per game by Marshawn Lynch
Receiving yards by Christian McCaffrey
Rushing yards by Cam Newton, +85
Games where Jared Goff is sacked at least 6 times
Number of head coaches who coach in week 1 and do not coach 16 games
Number of distinct 4,200 yard passers
Number of players in the Top 10 in receiving born in the 1990s
Number of distinct players with 1,000 or more rushing yards
Defensive player with the most interceptions, +2.5
Number of repeat divisions champions, -0.5
Number of new division champions
Number of AFC Championship Game wins by the Patriots, Colts, Jets, Bills, and Dolphins
Number of AFC Championship Game wins by the rest of the AFC
Number of NFC Championship Game wins by the NFC East and NFC West
Number of NFC Championship Game wins by the NFC North and NFC South
Number of turnovers in the Super Bowl by both teams combined
Number of times a team in the playoffs scores more than 30 points (win or lose)
Number of receiving yards for the receptions leader on the winning team in the Super Bowl
Number of rushing yards for the rushing leader, -5.5
Margin of victory in the Super Bowl, -2.5
Maximum number of two point conversions made during the regular season by a single team